Hey, everyone is between of the stream crem scene and you are listening to Eyes up here with screen Scene on the iHeart Radio network or wherever you get your podcasts. As always, I am joined by the Chadster. What up? Feel tired as hell?
Oh I'm exhausted, but I am I'm trying to bring the energy back. I'm tired as bad as tired is gonna get. But I'm trying to bring the energy up to the Chadster level.
Yeah, I'm tired today too. I'm not supposed to have caffeine anymore because of the seaboat, but today I cheated and I went with cafine because I was dragging a little bit. I don't know. I had a very weird dream. I'll tell you about it really quickly, because you know, usually I don't remember my dreams. This one was so vivid. It woke me up, and it woke me up for
the day and I was freaked out. So I had this dream that I was at this convention but it sucked, and it was like, you know, one of those conventions where there's like a million vendor tables, and for some reason during the convention, I decided this sucks. I'm gonna go take a shower, and I ended up walking through the convention into I think it was a relative's house.
This is so bizarre. And I go and I take a shower in the house and no one's home, right, And I'm thinking to myself, Okay, I'm gonna take my shower. Then I have to proceed back to my table in order to continue to on my merchandise. But I get out of the shower and I'm in a towel and I'm walking in my towel and it's pitch blackness and I can't see a thing, and I'm like, I can't find the lights, and I'm like, how the hell am
I going to find my table? And I'm in a towel, and then someone starts rubbing me and rubbing my skin in the dark, and I'm going, who's that? Who's that? Who are you? Where am I? And I woke up, Oh my gosh, is that the most bizarre?
That a super bizarre.
When did Francy never have a blackout?
I was in a room that had no lights, in a towel, trying to get back to my table to sign, and then I woke up thinking, oh my god, is this man gonna it was in a man Is he gonna attack me? Who is the person? Who is the mystery person in my dream?
I don't know a storyline.
They caressed my arm and then my leg and my thigh and I was like jumping and I'm like who is this? And then I woke up day and I was like, Oh, that freaks me out. Man.
I was like, this is so weird.
Not only was the convention slow, but now we have a predator that's lurking around at this convention. You decided to take a shower at that your relatives was conveniently located right inside of or right next.
To the convention center.
Such a freaking weird dream. I wake up from.
These dreams and they feel like they really happened, like it's real life, and then I'm freaked out all day. I was like what triggered this? I don't know, but it was bizarro world and I don't know who it was. The lights never came on. I just opened my eyes and I was like, oh, thank god, that was a dream.
Well, if you're a relative of Franccene and you'd like to book her for a convention, it's that ECW Dva Franccene on Twitter.
You're connected to a big convention center and let me know we can work something else. Why would I leave to take a shower?
Well, that that joke kind of writes itself if you want to talk about certain fans.
But I'm not going to go.
That's low hanging fruit and it's way too early in the show to start going there.
So I was like, I was schemed out because I'm like, who's rubbing me? And then I was freaked out because I'm just like, Okay, what is happening. I just thought i'd share that, right, Yeah, Yeah, that's that's weird. H It's a very weird, very bizarre and very I'm baffled. It's baffling to me because I don't know where it came,
where it's stemmed from. So I know I have anxiety about you'll hear this after the fact, but I have anxiety about getting to West Virginia this weekend coming up and we'll go into a recap like when it's over.
Because I'm sure it's lovely. I'm sure I had a great time and the show was fantastic, But it's Sandman and I and we only have like a forty two minute layover, and it's Charlotte, and Charlotte is a big ass airport for those of you who don't know, Like, if we're not lucky enough to be in the same vicinity when we got off the plane, we're screwed. And you know, he's old and he can't run, and so he's gonna make me run and say hold the plane, which they're gonna be like, lady, no way, we gotta go.
And so I have really been anxiety about these flights coming up, and you think it would be easier to get to a place like West Virginia, but it is a royal pain in the tukist like it's the worst flight in the world. So I don't know. I'm major anxiety over it.
That part of West Virginia pain in the neck again.
That's why I'm not I'm not going to visit, you guys, way too far now the other side, closer to where I am. It is right over the Virginia line, like where Winch Remember you were in Winchester, remember that about a year and a half ago written and I.
Drove eighty seven thousand hours. I don't even know.
Well Winchester Virginia where you did an appearance probably maybe two years ago. At this point, it's like right over the line there, and that's how close it is to where I am. But then where you are is like that's on the Kentucky border, so that's while you're doing it.
I found out I'm going. I called Moose and I was like, hey, can I just ask you, like what is happening with this schedule? And he's such a doll. He just sent me everything. He goes, listen, when we get off this phone call, I will send you everything you need to know. When he did, he sent me a full itinerary. And that's another thing. I think. I have to like be dressed. I only have an hour once we get off the plane, get to the hotel, and then we have to like get ready really quick
and jump in the purse. I was like, I'm probably gonna have to get ready at home and just be ready to go just in case there's a delay coming in. Like I need to be ready so I might have to wear like a funky outfit on the plane and cover up. I don't know, I'm stressed. Man.
If if you run through the Charlotte Airport with Sam man yelling hold the plane, please turn your camera around and start filming it.
No, all the plane.
Yeah, well he's got a bad hip, bad knees, like he's a mess. I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't need a wheelchair, you know, just for me to get him from A to b like wherever we I please, just the airplane, Gods, just let it be the terminal next to us. That would be like ideal, and then we could just relax. I don't want to miss the flake because then I'll miss my appearance.
And I don't want that.
I'm stressed. But anyway, I'm sure it's lovely and we had a great time and we'll talk about it, but right now freaking out.
I do have some questions that I've been saving in my database from submissions. If you'd like to dig into those for the rest of this lovely holiday that we're recording together.
Okay, well, I will try, and you know, my memories like shop, but I will try to answer them as best I can and as strictly as I can, because I'm an open bookcare on ies up here.
As that these questions kind of stretch across different planes, you know, they're they're they're pretty good.
I gotta say so.
Your memory will go to the test, but your memory will also.
Have to think a little bit. You know, You're You're gonna be a little introspective here.
Okay, sometimes something triggers me and I can remember, So maybe these will be good. So I'll do my best.
All right, here we go.
First question is from Matt a little Bett.
Hey, Matt, in which.
Directions does franc And see the wrestling industry needing to go in order to flourish and grow the fan base both nationwide and internationally.
Like back to where it was when wrestling was super hot.
That's what I'd assume.
Yes, I feel like the problem that I think professional wrestling has encountered, and this is something that I had mentioned before. I feel like as people get older, as fans get older, some of them tend to grow out of it, and they're not as devoted to the business or to you know, their fandom as they once were. I went through a time where all I could think about was wrestling. I had to watch every single program, I had to know every single thing that was going on.
I think not only because I was in the business, but I loved the business so much, and it went beyond ECW for me, and I was, you know, at one point, I was just watching everything. I was just a fan of the products. A lot of people tell me, I just don't watch it anymore, you know, I kind of grew out of it and I got other things going on in my life and blah blah blah. A lot of people tell me it's the storylines and the
characters that are portrayed. Today, I feel like no one is really knocking talent because there's so much talent out there, And you know, just by watching WW or AW or any of the other brands, because there's so many brands out there, but those are the top two, you can tell that these guys and girls are very, very talented
and can put on a hell of a match. A lot of people these days are turned off by the direction that the company is going, particularly AW and I hate to pick at them because we seem to pick at them a lot. But that's you know, I read
a lot. I don't watch a lot, but I do read a lot on X and on Instagram, and I read what fans are saying, and that is the consensus that they're not happy with the product, not talent, you know, not due to the talent, but due to maybe storylines or just the lack of a push for certain people, And that kind of can turn somebody off from watching. And if you compare the numbers these days to the numbers like in the nineties, I know it's you know,
you have to move on and times change. I understand that, but the numbers were so much higher back in the day. Millions and millions of people were watching wrestling, and now in a week some companies can't even break the million viewer point, you know what I mean. So there's something missing in the product that is turning the world off,
and no one can seem to pinpoint it. Now, WWE kind of turned in the right direction, and you know, they're they're breaking Like I think I saw something like two point five million at one point for like a raw or SmackDown. I'm not really sure which one it was. I think that's like the highest ife might have seen in a really long time. But when you used to draw, you know, one company five six seven million, then the other company six seven eight million, the other company two
three four million. Something's missing collectively, not just with one company, it's with the whole sport. Why don't we have that audience that we used to have. I don't know.
Interesting, you know, I think about like Cornette's argument about Russo. When Russo was writing the shows is that he wrote the Howard Stern, the Jerry Springer style program, right, and that's what he watched go back to the nineties, and that's what millions of people were watching and listening to every day. So it was easy to kind of bring
that audience over to watching something like wrestling. Now, if you kind of bring it over to what people are watching and you were going to relate it to programming.
I think that's why people were so invested.
In this bloodline storyline over the last year or so, because it was very episodic and how they presented their segment every week for a year and a half or two years however, how long they were together as a group. Is that something they have to kind of borrow from our similar popular storyline formats from pop culture again, like how Russo did it with the WWF, and that's how they kind of took off.
Yeah, I don't know, because, like I said, the times change, you know, decades have gone by, but it's like we haven't been able to capture the magic of Like the the nineties era in wrestling, there were so many big stories going on on TV, especially in the Big two that you know WWF or WWE when whenever they transitioned in WCW and like the nWo DX, like the Attitude era, there were so many things that were cool and hip and like you look at wrestling today and seriously, what
stands out is like the cool hip factor right to draw those people in. You know, I could sit there, like you know, last night I was watching the King and Queen of the Ring pay per view Saudi Arabia. I said to my husband, the crowd's hot. They're not They're not a French crowd. The French were like the number one crowd that I've ever seen in my life. But they were hot in Saudi Arabia. They were a good crowd to work in front of the building, looked great and from what I've seen, I mean, the guys
and girls gave it. They're all and tremendous workers. But there's something missing. I want something to want to bring me back every week and say that makes me want to watch raw or I have to DVR SmackDown. I want to be captivated. I want to be sucked into the product again. And right now, I'm a casual fan.
I watch when I can. I don't DVR shows. You know, We're not a channel that reports on every little segment that goes on because you and I just are too busy and we don't watch every single you know, wrestling match that they haven't. Me could, But I would like to be that kind of fan again who wants to watch it and it's not a chore to sit down and watch eighty hours of wrestling a week, you know what I mean. But I'm not there, and that makes
me sad because I once was there. Right, it was everything. Wrestling was everything to me. I loved it, loved it to the point where I would sleep and I would dream of spots that I can do and things that I want to see happen, and you know, i'd wake up and write stuff down because we didn't have these phones that I could just put a memo out. You know what I'm saying. It consumed me. It doesn't consume me anymore. And maybe that's because I did grow up and I do have a family, and I am a
mother and a wife and all this stuff. You know, I got things going on, and wrestling is kind of like my side chick, you know what I mean. Like she's there, but I can't give her all my attention because I have other things going on. So as a fan, I would love for a segment to blow me away to the point where I need to keep watching to see what happens next. And for me, that's not out there and I wish it was. Yeah, so maybe that's
what these fans are thinking. You know, you have your diehards. Again. We've talked about this WWE versus AW fans. You can't like both. There's maybe five percent who like both, but the rest of them have to pick a side, which is ridiculous. Just watch what you want to watch and enjoy the product, you know what I mean. There's those diehard fans, But where are the millions and millions that were watching in the nineties and early two thousands. They've moved on.
Yeah, they remember when they watch wrestling. They don't watch wrestling, or they channel serving they go, oh, look there's wrestling. I used to watch this and then they go, no, what else is on?
Or they watch the old stuff.
Oh tell me.
I'm watching Barely Legal ninety eight right now. I just saw you, and I'm like, awesome, watch what you enjoy? Absolutely, you know, And a lot of people throw back to the nineties, whether it be ECW product or early WCW or WWF. They like the old stuff better than current, you know. And that really doesn't count because that's not a Nielsen reading.
Popper, No, not at all.
No, what are we missing? What is? You know, what is not available to us as fans that were waiting for to get us hooked again? What are we waiting for?
I don't know, yeah, waiting for that well, the boom. I mean, some people think the boom is here, you know, the boom is you compare it to where it was three or four years ago, you know, it just pales in comparison. If you think that this is a boom, then obviously you weren't alive in ninety eight.
It's going in the right direction, it is, but it needs, I mean, it needs a lot more momentum. And it's funny because, like I I say, when I'm watching WWE's product, those houses are always packed, yes, you know what I mean, Like I've never well, nine times out of ten. I've never seen somebody out a show that can turn me opposite hard camera and it's completely empty. So the fans are coming out for the product to watch it live,
but where are they at home watching this? The numbers aren't reflecting like the enthusiasm I see online and people just loving the product, Like, why aren't people watching? Something's missing?
I wonder, do you think that other fans have driven wrestling fans away?
Everythink of that?
No, because I feel like these wrestling fans like to fight.
Yeah, I don't know, but I feel like today's fan is a little bit more obsessive than that's not going to go back in the day, But okay, make casual fan that might go to a show or watch a show be like, I'm not, as you know, into this as I used to be, because I don't know, it's just not I know, these people that watch it, they're a little too obsessed. I might not be into it anymore because people are like too upset.
I don't know. If I'm just throwing a throwing out of.
That would make me want to check it out before I purchase a ticket. I mean, at least give it a shot and watch the show before I go they're live, the live events are drawing. Like for WWE, the live events are drawing. It's the television that's not drawing the numbers. I mean, I hear they're killing it at live events any w I don't know, Like the one pay per view I watched, it was a huge building and it was packed to the gills and then you get like
a TV and you you know. Unfortunately I watched the video last week. It might have been the ROH, So I don't know if they do that before or after the tapings, and maybe some people went home, but the one side was completely empty, and it broke my heart and I was just like, oh god, this is terrible. As a performer, you don't want to come out and see that, you know what I mean. And that's why I had mentioned like maybe smaller venues would be.
Don't get why they don't do that.
Can you imagine them running like the Manhattan Center and those old raws and how they are not small?
I mean they can get like a three four thousand seat you know, little arena and packet. I mean, the pay per views are sellar for AW from what I've seen, they are drawing in droves. They're doing great, but it's these TV tapings and again I don't know the placement of the card and who goes on when, but I just know, like I saw. I don't want to name names because I don't want embarrass anyone, but I saw some people coming down the ramp and the camera panned over to the one side and there was no one
in the crowd. And I'm telling you this went up. It was one of those big azarinas and no one was there.
That's horrible.
It was terrible. And this was last week. I saw it and I was like, oh shit, not again. So I feel like, maybe TV tapings, you know, go for a smaller building and save some money. I know they got money coming out their ass. I get it, but like, save some money and do the smaller TV taping buildings and then the pay per views. Because the pay per view I could I didn't even see like an empty seat. It was and I was thrilled for them. I was like, yes, this is what it needs to be. But you know,
I just there's something missing and what is it? Why aren't people watching?
I don't know.
I want them too, because I want this business to thrive and I want my friends to make as much money as possible.
Maybe there needs to be a reboot of VCW.
Let's try another, a third attempt at this company and see what we can pull out our ass.
Baby sure all right, Mike m from Philly.
For the women in today's wrestling product, how would Francine coach them to make their promos sound more believable and authentic?
Who? So we? Nick and I were talking about this, and if you haven't heard that podcast, go back and listen to it because there were some really good stories that were told. We were talking about promos and he was saying, how like in WWE, everything is so scripted and you sound like a robot because you are reading, you know, verbatim, word for word. And I was saying how nervous I used to be. And Shane says the
story all the time. When he comes back and he sees me, you know, my hands are shaking because I have a line coming up in my you can see in my face. I just delivery. I want to be perfect,
but I'm thinking too hard. When you can do a promo and just get bullet points, it is so much more realistic than having somebody hand you a script and say remember this, because when you have to remember things, it gets like for me anyway, I get to the point where I'm mixing things up and I just want hit this, this and this, and then I'll do it from the heart and that is so much more believable because there's more passion and it just it sounds real
instead of reading off a script. So advice to or even males out there, it doesn't have to be females. Like if you're doing promos, especially I know, WW, you can't tell them what to do. You will get in trouble anywhere else. If you can just ask for some bullet points and ten minutes to go over a scenario in your head, it'll be the best promo that you do. Because the scripted ones I just don't enjoy, never did, never will. And I like to make stuff up on
the fly. Okay, that's always fun too, And that was a thing about cameo that I enjoyed because I would never like I would just open my thing and they and I would just go and it was an acting class for me, Like I would just make up it would whether it be dumb or cool or whatever. Practice in front of the mirror, you know, put your practice, put yourself over, your character over and I don't know, just like I just feel like if it's scripted, it's
just you look like a mechanical robot. And I just I you can tell back in the day when somebody was reading off a prompter or a monitor and to me it was just like, oh, that didn't go off well. But then you see the people who are just like moving around and they're relaxed, and they're having a good time and they're just speaking from the heart. And those are the best promos out there.
The best and any What about when you can pull in anything from like not like from like your own personal experience, Like you're like, if it's a real shoot, like do you think that that enhance that enhances anything? Or do you think that that cut you have to you have to like let them in a little bit more like or do you think a shoot brings down a promo?
So one of the best promos ever was you know, Shane throwing down the NWA belt and he channels his father. Yes, that was a shoot that was from the heart, that was real, and everybody puts that promo over to this day, you know what I mean, Yeah, it doesn't have to be one hundred percent you in real life. But if you can take little bits and pieces and make it your own and incorporate it into your character. I mean, you know, not everybody can do that, but if you can,
I think it's a bonus. And unless you have like a goofy as you know, gimmick, you know you don't want to do something like that because then that's not going to work. But you know, most of the people these days are coming out as themselves. There's not many gimmicks out there anymore, you know what I mean. Somebody might have a cool catchphrase or something, but you don't see too many garbage men or clowns or that kind
of thing. And I'm not knocking it. Everybody has a place in this business, but for the most part, people are themselves and people are using their real names. And you know, it could i mean, channeling something from your past, especially, you got to think is it relevant to the story that you're trying to tell. And if that's a yes, go ahead and use.
It right because some shoots could go over people's heads and they might not know what the hell you're talking about.
But if you can make it relevant, then it works.
You might have to explain yourself a little bit, but there's always a backstory, and you know, people are intrigued by that. And I like it when it's a little bit shoot, a little genuine. I find it captivating.
Okay, that's a shoot. That question was a shoot.
That's a shoot.
Brother, all right, how about this question? John asked from Bayshore.
These are via email too, So I'm going back and forth between two screens. Did you and Joey Styles rehearse your interactions on TV?
He always had the best reactions to you in ring.
And we've never rehearsed. I sometimes, I you know, might say, uh, like I'm trying to think of it. Might have been heat Wave ninety eight where I give him THEO. I don't know what that's called the motor boat boat? Is that what? That's good? Yeah?
I guess.
I think he knew that ahead of time, Like I think we told him I was going to do that, And I think he was worried about his wife because she didn't like stuff like that. I don't think she liked when I like kissed him on the cheek. But we never rehearsed for the most part, Like ninety percent of the time, I would just try and either pop
him or embarrass him, you know. And I I remember one promo there was I dropped Shane and I opened the show and I dropped maybe, oh, Joey dropped something and he looked up my dress and then I grab him and I pick him up and I'm mad at him, and then I give him a kiss him the cheek because I'm like, I don't care, because you know, my character was like that, like stuff like that. Yes, we knew, but little things if I would walk by him in
the ring or like grab him or do something. I never told him I was doing any that just to pop them, and he'd give me that look like, oh, you're gonna get me in trouble, like because the crowd ate that stuff up. They liked it, so why not?
And he was genuine you could tell Joey was.
Joey and I were very good friends, and we had such a good rapport with each other. And I always would tell him on commentary, you can say whatever you want and I will never ever get mad at you. I told him you have full liberties like go at me, and he would be like, are you sure, I'm like honey and all right, so and then he let me have it sometimes and I was fine with it, you know so, and sometimes he would apologize. I'm like, no need, it was great, come on.
Never anything that you fell across the line at.
All, No, no, never nothing. The only thing I didn't like that was said was when Paul Hayman told sinister Minister to say eat a sandwich, because that's when I was having trouble with the sheets and my weight, okay, And that made me cry. That hit home to me, and I was just like, I'm so self conscious about my weight and how I look and then you had to throw that in there, like that pissed me off, and that hurt my feelings. Other than that, nothing ever bothered me.
Your your response would have been, why don't you do some fake coke on another well pay review twenty five years and get him kicked off their television?
That was relevant.
Yeah, that's messed up, see that Like that's yeah, that's that's something that even if that's a given line, that's one that crosses the line. Even then that's shock value for the sake of shock value, and that's hurtful.
Literally went to Paul crying and asked him to take it off and he wouldn't. That pissed me off.
I don't blame you, and that one sucks.
Yeah, but otherwise can't complain, right.
All right? Phil P via email? What do you fill up? Fill up? Phil? Phil pvia email?
What do you think would have happened if Al Snow had stayed in ec W?
I think it would have just continued, uh, the way it was going, because head was so over at this point, and we would have had to get more heads. We would order like a thousand heads and distribute them, so the bigger the venues, we would have to order more heads. But his character man was so over when you know, Paul reinvented him, and I just feel like he would have just continued, you know, because he I mean, he's
an established worker. The problem with Al was his character development, and that's you know, that's something that Paul just reinvented him, and it just took off like a rocket ship, and it was awesome and everybody knew Al could work, but then diving into this new character, it showed a different side of Al that maybe you had never seen before as a character, and it was just amazing, you know, and he was so great to work with, So I
just feel like he probably would have continued, probably would have had the belt for a while, and you know, and Head would have reigned supreme. Head probably would have got Manager of the year, you know, beat me out. But that's okay.
That would have been a great angle.
I'm on ahead because she won and I didn't.
Yeah, would you have turned him heel at any point and made that character like a crazy heel where he's literally losing his mind but on the heel side.
Well, he yeah, I mean he was losing his mind. You know, he was crazy talking to this manufactured you know, mannequin head. So it doesn't get more out there than that.
But as a heel, right now, you're more diabolical.
Yeah. But the fans even as a heel, because I feel like they loved Heads so much. I don't know if he would have made the full train, he probably would have been like a tweener.
Yeah, maybe you're.
Sucking limbo and like you're trying to get that other half, but they just love you too much to hate you, you know. I mean that's just the way I see it. I don't know.
Yeah, Well, the WWF tried to turn him heel around two thousand.
It did not work, That's what I'm saying. It was like, I mean, it was late ninety nine.
He was with Foley and they were trying to turn him heel against the rock.
It just did not work.
They took away the music, they made him a little more sinister, and just by the time I think, you know, Spring came around.
That's what he was doing the.
Head cheese with Steve black and I completely made.
I had such a crush on Steve Blackman. I loved that man. Where is he now?
I remember you so I've kept that in the back of my mother. I remember you saying that. I swear I have an email for Steve Blackman, and I'm almost I want to get him on the show.
Oh well, yeah, I haven't heard his name in like forever.
He does he does conventions. He I think I believe he has a bail bond's business.
Oh well, he was like a monster. He was like one of those guys that was just huge, Like he looked like he can kill somebody. He probably could, but there was just something about him, like like that whole roster. I was drawn to him and I was like, man, he's so handsome, Like I don't know what it was, ladies, any ladies feel the same, I don't know. It's just a good looking guy, man marble man like burly, like he could put on a cowboy hat, ride of horse
rescue and damsel in distress. That's what he looked for, like he now like in this day and age, he looked he looked like an m M. A fighter.
Well, that's what he was going for.
That's I mean, he just.
He was in He was the MMA guys while they were like not cool yet. How he was like that guy.
Yeah, I was a big fantasy.
But with Al Snow he was head cheese.
You gotta go with the flow.
They brought the personality out of him though, you know, they brought the little comedic side house.
Yeah you cheese. Yeah, all right, this one is from beaver Dan. Beaver Dan.
Is he from Beaver County in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Possibly? I think you go a lot of roots with the name Beaver That's true. Okay, I'm okay, I'll I'll go. I'll just go to the question.
All right, does Francy and Field female wrestlers on only fans or similar sites help the industry, or is that something which in the long term hurts their professional growth inside the industry.
OnlyFans is the norm these days for like ninety percent of females in this world, not even in wrestling, Like everybody has an OnlyFans page. I don't think it hurts it's it's supplementing income. You know, sexuality is part of wrestling. You choose your boundaries and what you feel you can do, what's comfortable, what you can live with every day, and you make your money from it. And that's that some girls are willing to do more than others. I don't
knock them for it. It's again a way to make a living, so I don't I don't feel like it hurts them. I feel like the male or some female fans too. I just feel like, you know, they'll follow them wherever they go or whatever they're doing to make a buck. So if it's only fans, if it's you know, doing conventions, if it's a twitch stream, if it whatever it is, there are so many options these days to
make extra income. I don't feel it hurts anyone. I feel like it's the norm now and it's just up to the individual on how far they want to take it. And if they are comfortable doing certain things for money.
They do a lot of stuff for money.
Oh that's them, you know. And and it's okay. If you can lay your head on your pillow every night and say I'm good with what I did, then by all means, make your money. You know, I'm not knocking you do what you want.
No, And you see, even like outside of wrestling, I mean, there are some a list celebrities and recording artists that have OnlyFans, and not only do they use it to put out picture content, they release music or girls streaming content that they have, they'll put it out there and they make millions. I mean, and it's like, wow, geez, I guess that's your way of reaching your fan base now it is.
Believe me, I would love to make millions on only fans. I wouldn't really love to, but I just don't. I maybe it's my age. I you know, I don't see myself doing that that platform. It's not something I want to do at this stage in the game. But if you're young and look good and you're a okay with it, and I mean, who cares, get your money? Get it while you can there's one day it's not gonna happen. Yeah,
he's all the filters in the world. But if you're sixty four and you're still trying to do your only fans, it's like.
Oh, well, there is a fan.
Base for well, yes there is, there.
Is, There is a fan base for.
That, and and fine, I'm not gonna knock that either. But for me, it's like, I know what I'm supposed to be doing at this stage in the game, and it's not only fans, so you know, but you do you Bill.
I can't even imagine being a fan again growing up in the nineties, two thousands, early two thousands and having that accessibility to talent like that that.
I grew up, you know, watching on to now.
Granted, okay, sidebar, we knew of the people that were in magazines at the time, and there.
Were pictures online that you could go find. But this is different.
This is you have direct connect to the person, and some of them you can send a request to and a day later you got it in your inbox.
It's mind blowing because the industry is, the entertainment industry in general, was so untouchable when I was a kid. You can write a fan letter, but don't expect one back. And nine times out of ten, if you got one back, it was from the publicist and maybe a rubber stamp signature or so. It's something like that back then, you know what I mean. Nowadays, you can talk to anyone. You can slide in DMS. You'd be talking with an Oscar winner or a Grammy Award winning art. I mean,
you could talk to anybody. It is so easy to get in touch with these people. But I just remember, like back in I remember back in the day, I was such a huge fan of Villanova basketball and it was it was when they beat Georgetown and won everything. They were the champs for that year. Like, I was such a fan and there was one particular player that I loved and I wrote him two letters. I think I was in eighth grade, like I was young, but I wrote him and he wrote me back twice and
sent me pictures twice. And I thought that and then my mom was like, no, you need to stop because this man's in college caroling in high school, Like you need to stop. And I didn't write anything like dirty. I was just like, you know, I admire you as a player. I'm such a fan, you're so good at what you do, like gushing like a little teenage crush, you know. But he was so sweet and genuine and I can tell it was his penmanship. And he wrote me back and he sent me the autograph pictures, and
I was just over the moon with that. I was like, I love this guy. And then I watched him and I was like, I got a letter from him. It was so awesome, you know what I mean. That's the closest I've ever come to fandom, Like, that's the only time I can ever remember reaching out to a celebrity. Well, and not like he was like this huge celebrity, but he was you know, he was on the Cinderella Villanova basketball team. And you don't remember who it was, Harold Jensen.
Sorry, yeah I didn't hear it.
Yeah no, I might have not said his name, Harold Jensen. I believe it was number thirty two.
Harold Jensen. Yeah, writing the hymn down So I want to look him up.
Okay, yeah, he was Uh he might have played either guard or forward. I can't remember that. This is going back, but they won it all that year and my dad even took me to a game. We went and we watched.
I didn't get to meet him in person, but that was my only fan letter I think I ever wrote to somebody, because I just I wanted a picture and I just loved him so much, and he was so nice and but again, he wasn't an Emmy Award winner or you know, like an untouchable person in the entertainment field, but he took the time to get back to me, and I always remember that. I thought that was so sweet.
I wrote a letter to one Vincent Kennedy McMahon when I was in middle school, and I got a response back from his office, Oh, from his secretary, thanking me for the letter. Oh, and they didn't send me anything outside of the letter and just thanking me for contacting me to thanking me for contacting mister McMahon.
And he appreciated the letter. I gotta find it.
The only problem is if we were going to give the chance to shoot name, which were not, they just they.
Addressed it to the wrong name.
So I have this great letter that's too.
Me, But it's not me, it's was.
It was it signed by Vince McMahon.
No, it's it's an auto pen. Vince McMahon signature. It's still great. I still have it. I mean it's because it's on the old school WWF letterhead.
That's awesome.
So when I actually in this past weekend, I found all the business cards all the people that I met with when I was originally interviewing there. But I wish the letters in another box. But yeah, I wrote a letter to Vince McMahon. I got an answer back from his that's perfect, wonderful.
I'm not going to go there either.
Oh God, do we have time for one more? Yeah?
John W from we go back to the email John W.
From Syracuse.
He asked, who were some of your favorite backstage workers?
And he's, oh, my god, I've been asked that a million times, and just talent.
Wise, behind the scenes workers, behind the.
Scenes, I mean our cameraman, Ron and Charlie were the best. I love them to death. I just talked to Ron, I think for the first time since DCW folded in two thousand and one. I just spoke to him a couple of weeks ago, for like the first time. But they were great, and teas were really nice too. We had a married couple that worked with us, and they were always so sweet. Who else like Damien, God rest his soul. He was so good to Shane and I and drove us everywhere and handled that. He was like
in charge of our merch. I don't know. There was a Trish, There was Mo. They they would like drive people around. Trish helped out in the back whatever we needed. Trish was there. Doctor Mark Allen, who I just saw at uh Wrussell con and he sat with me for about a half hour and we conversed. And he's a doll. He was a pediatrist, but he was our doctor and would uh would help us if we needed. He took me to the hospital. He wrote with me in the
emergency the emergency vehicle when I broke my pelvis. Like, we had good people. We had a lot of good people on staff that were, you know, willing to do whatever. And yeah, Rob Finstein and his crew. I've known Rob now forever and still friends with Rob and still work with Rob to this day. And you know, he was he was a big part of ECW talent wise for a minute as seven eleven, but so much with the the camera shooting, you know, fan cam footage for us and stuff like that. So we had a lot of
people behind the scenes that were cool. I know I'm missing oh Atlas. I just saw Ronnie for the first time also at Russell Con and he looks exactly the same. But you know, we we had such a great crew with Atlas that would always protect us. And I don't know so many people, so many great people.
We always hear about, you know, folks from the ECW family. You know, maybe somebody's girlfriend or somebody working like the merchandise Dand was that like a night of decision or if they were missing somebody, or was that just like a given if you brought someone of the show, they might be working a ticket taker or merchandise.
Or well, like I said, Damien was like our main merch guy. But then Bella forgot Bella she's a sweetheart. She would help with the merchandise too, and she came to a lot of the shows. But I guess, like we were on the road and were flying to events, I guess we just had to go with people that were there and we can trust, because I don't know if we flew. I don't think we flew certain people, like if they were in the area, they would be the ones doing the job, you know what I mean.
So so I don't think it was like, well, you're our main merch person, You're gonna fly every everywhere we go. Like I don't. I don't think that was the case. I don't know. I can't remember how often people came, but I do remember like Tommy saying, well, we need this done tonight, can you help out to certain people
or whatever? And again it was more like a mom and pop. Well it's I mean, you know, we were a professional company, but we didn't have the income to be consistent with certain roles, you know, because it costs money. It's another hotel room, it's another flight, it's another mouth to feed. It's we you know, got to feed your workers that are there. Take care of the core staff, you know. Right, all right, good group of people. I miss them all. I love them, very good.
Good way to end it. Solid nice.
Oh well those were good questions. Appreciate them again. If you want to send in any questions. What is the email that you would.
Use all podcast questions at gmail dot com. Very very easy for me to compile them, so please send them there. It's in my Twitter bio if you want to drop them. I get them every so often. Where people just send them to me. We should publicize that a lot more and we can get a ton more questions. But I've been compiling these for quite a while. Just send them there, all podcast questions at gmail dot com.
I enjoy answering these fan questions, and you know, and like I said, some of them are a little redundant, but you might have missed an answer, So I'll just keep answering them. It's fine with me. I don't mind.
It's fine with me too, because the more questions she answers, the more we get to find out.
Yeah, like I said, I'm an open book for the most part. I will share information and unless it's in the vult If it's in the vault, it's there until I die. There's no way I'm sharing that and believing there's stuff in the vault.
Unless you have a dream about it where you're walking through a convention.
And that wasn't true at all. I don't know where that came from, so that's beyond my comprehension at this point.
Did you ever come out in a blackout?
Were you ever given a blackout entrance at all where you had to appear in the ring?
Honest question? The cha Virginia.
No, I know, I was in the ring several times when they shut the turned off the lights and I was already in the ring, but I don't I might have been under the ring once, I can't remember, and then I had to pop out for something. I don't know. If you guys know, you know, there's some people who know my career better than I do. But several times the lights would go out and I'd be in there and it's scared because it's like, okay, where are you hear memlr?
Yeah, and then the fan decibel level goes up like twentyfold because they go nuts when the lights go out, because yeah, it's gonna happen.
The difference these days is everybody will whip out their cell phones internal and their their lights the flashlight, but back then, we didn't have that, you know what I mean, Like, we didn't have that back in the day. So it was dark, like really dark. Nowadays when they try and do these lights out, things you can see like certain people removing and stuff's going on. But back in the day,
it was like total darkness. So I remember literally feeling the ropes like to get around, like Okay, I got to be in the corner for this or I got to get out of the way because this one's running in and it was scary.
It's a scary thing, I'm sure it is.
Yeah, you don't want to be hit with something you're not suppose to be hit with, So no, that.
Sucks when Sabo's got to get in there, go Yeah, I.
Just cower in the corner. I'm like, I don't want to get hit by that. Where's the chair flying from?
Exactly?
I'm out of here.
Well that's all we got for this week.
Okay, Well that was a good one again. Thank you to all who sent questions in. We'll probably do this maybe once a month.
If we can absolutely keep them coming in, we'll do all right.
Well, where can people find you?
Slow burn until November? The summertime is a slow slow time right now. I'm just loving life, working working hard on eyes up here.
That's it, okay, just going to enjoy the summer with the kids, right.
Yep, yep.
So yeah, just follow me at chat E and B on X and keep your eyes on eyes up here here on iHeartRadio wherever you get. You get your podcast on YouTube, TikTok at.
What is it?
Let me let me pull it up because I always forget it. But you got you gotta get with this on TikTok. If you haven't yet, you were going to be missing out on quite the tiktoking experience.
You like that. I made that one up to the Tiktoking talking.
I have a show coming off. It's myself, Shane Douglas Sandman, and I believe Phonsie is on it as well. I'm trying to find it. It is in Indiana, and I kind of of course I can't find the graphic for it. It's on I believe, what is it June twenty ninth. Where the hell's the graphic? Good Lord fifty bash at Beckley Posters here, and I can't find the one I'm looking for. Do you know what I'm talking about?
I don't absolutely know.
So it's it's for Scott Hewlett and the Heat at Shenanigan's podcast. Here it is. I found it, thank god. It's called Every Child Wins. It's Saturday, June twenty ninth, and it is at Tippy Canoe County Fairgrounds in Lafayette, Indiana. It's a benefits show for the Muscular Dystrophee Association. So yeah, it's me Sandman Shane and I think Phonsie was at it.
I want to say he was, And we're doing a meet and greet during the day and then who knows, we might be appearing on the show somewhere at night.
And Shane and I are also doing a seminar that Saturday on June twenty ninth in Lafayette as well, So if you're interested, you can DM Scott qwleid on X or you can call him at seven sixty five four two one three four seven to two and there's only thirty spots available and I'm not sure or how many spots are left, So if you're available for that seminar, it's the first one that Chane and I are doing together and it's very informative. I think it's fifty dollars per person.
Yeah, I'm seeing that now. That's fantastic. Take advantage of that, my god.
Yeah. So that's before the show that afternoon. We're going to do that. And you know, if you're not subscribed to our YouTube channel, please go over to ECWDVA Francine and hit the subscribe button and if you want to be a channel member, it's only five ninety nine. I hope you're staying safe, I hope you're staying healthy, and most of all, I hope you're staying extreme. There were